Merced County is one of the hardest hit counties of California. Nearly 25 percent of homes in California are facing a notice of foreclosure on them. The real estate of this county is suffering heavily. It has been put forward by the leaders of the Merced County that the state needs to give a foreclosure aid fund amounting to $30 million. This fund can be used to help the distressed homeowners to come out of this grave situation. About $145 million fund was provided to California under the Neighborhood Stabilization Program by the federal government for helping the different counties and cities in fighting with the problem.

The cities and counties received over $300 million directly. Merced County including its cities was not taken into the round of direct funding from the federal government. A note of frustration was evident among the area leaders as this county was not included into the direct funding round. They have decided to seek help from the state. They are expecting that the foreclosure aid will be granted to them in the month of March and will be subjected to execution in May. Mayor Ellie Wooten said, “I promise you we’ll spend every dime as quickly as possible,”

The plan aims at helping the low income group to get their home back to them and at the same time reduce the number of abandoned homes. This will help in stabilizing the price in the real estate. On an average, homes in the Merced County have lost nearly 40 percent on their value. Tommy Jones, Mayor of Los Banos said, “Merced County is the hardest-hit county in the whole nation. There are families behind these numbers hurting.” California account for 25 percent of the foreclosure throughout the country and based on that the officials there hoped to receive about $1 billion fund. However, it got $529 million as foreclosure prevention fund.

A report has been sent to director Lynn Jacobs by Merced County and its six other cities. This report highlights the devastating condition of the real estate of the region. Last summer, Congress passed the Housing and Economic Recovery Act that proposed for a $4 billion foreclosure aid for the suffering homeowners of the country. The leaders of the Merced County are eagerly waiting for a positive move. For the time being they have nothing to do but to wait for a decision by the state.

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Oakland, having the 10th highest rate of foreclosure in the country, has showed that it is in a bad condition. Oakland is competing with various other cities with high foreclosure rankings such as Sacramento, Fresno, Stockton, and Bakersfield. The Federal Housing and Economic Recovery Act offered almost $4 billion to both local and state governments to rehabilitate and buy foreclosed homes. Out of that money, Oakland received $8.2 million. By Dec. 1, the city has to project its solutions to help residents who are affected by this real estate crisis.

In 2008, the California State Department of Housing and Community Development plans to distribute $145 million to those areas that are troubled greatly by this real estate calamity. Cities having the highest percentage of foreclosures will get priority by the state. These homes had been financed by sub-prime loans. The increasing rate at which these sub-prime loans are supposed to reset is one of the determining factors.

In this year, nearly 3,800 of the sub-prime loans in the city have been adjusted or reset to a greater interest rate. It is the expected that this figure will escalate in the next years as several sub-prime loans are planned to reset. Apart from this, according to recent statistics, the real estate crisis of foreclosures is expanding and the mortgage loan resets with the adjustable rates will not completely reach the top until 2011.

Beverly Williams, a resident of Oakland said, “It’s extremely distressing for me to see the number of houses vacant on the streets,” and “This is urgent, and we have to stop people from losing their homes.” Beverly Williams leads ACORN or the Association of Community Organizing for Reform Now, a community organization, which works for moderate and low-income families. This organization is working along with banks and city officials to change sub-prime mortgages and make them conventional loans to let the working families regain their homes. In the last three years, nearly one out of four single-family houses in Oakland has received a foreclosure filing.

ACORN along with another nonprofit community organization known as Urban Strategies Council, is trying to restore affected neighborhoods and redevelop the forlorn residential properties. They are planning to purchase the foreclosed houses and sell off the homes at low-interest loans to the residents of the area. Andy Nelson, the director of Economic Opportunity Programs at the Urban Strategies Council said that, “This is just one strategy,” “…there is no one size policy fits all. We need to be creative about the use of public funds to fix the problem.”

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A total of 33 bankruptcies have been reported to have been filed in the area of Sacramento, a day after Barack Obama became the president of US. Apart from that, the unemployment rate in California is over 7 percent. The problem of home foreclosure is continuing with its assault in the real estate market of the region. However, it is expected that this downturn is going to change soon bringing a ray of hope for the people of the Sacramento area. Sung Won Sohn, economist of California State University has said, that the president just needs sometime to put everything in place. He has also said, “The U.S. economy is like an aircraft carrier – you cannot turn it around on a dime,”

The rate of unemployment has gone up by 7.4 percent in the Sacramento area. It is quite evident that the economy of this region won’t become stable till the time the real estate market becomes sound. Obama has several plans to help the distressed homeowners. This includes a 90-day moratorium that will provide the right to bankruptcy judges to make a reduction in the amount of debt. Sohn believes that the rise of Obama to the chair of the US president is definitely going to help in making a pro-active government that will surely regulate the financial market properly. The rescue package worth $700 billion that was ordained in the month of October may be just the start of an era where the government thinks of involving itself more straightly in the economy.

Levy, who is the director of the Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy, said, “We’re supposed to be getting the economy back on track.” Obama has promised to make a tax cut on the income of the middle class people. It has been estimated that those with an annual income between $40,000 and $70,000 will be able to save nearly $2,200. At the same time, Obama has plans to increase the tax rate for people earning over $250,000 annually. The distressed homeowners facing the problem of foreclosure are just eagerly looking towards a positive result soon.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has also proposed a 90-day moratorium along with a program on loan modification. This will take care of the fact that the mortgage payments are not going to take over 38 percent of the income of the homeowners. The area of Sacramento has witnessed over 30,000 foreclosure cases since the beginning of 2007.

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Bakersfield, including the whole of Kern County, ranks fourth nationally for its number of foreclosure filings during the third quarter. According to a data, the foreclosure activity across the state in the third quarter would have been as same as that of the second quarter, if the change in law had not taken place in the real estate market. The report of the Kern County Recorder’s office show that the number of default notices declined from 1,326 in August to 542 in September. There has been a 12 percent decline nationally in the number of filings in September month from what it was in August. In September, one out of every 475 homes was sent a filing.

Real estate expert James J. Saccacio said that the 51 percent decline in the default notices of California greatly affected the national figure of foreclosure as this state accounted for about one-third of the filing every month across the country. Apart from California, the newly introduced law also brought down the foreclosure filing in North Carolina. The law in California states that the lender has to give a 30 days time period before beginning a foreclosure proceeding on the homeowner’s property. Before the introduction of this new law, nearly 2,000 default notices used to get filed in California on every business day.

As soon as the law was introduced, the number of daily filings came below 100. Though the new law was introduced, but several metro areas of California remained at the peak in its foreclosure filings for the quarter that lasted from July to September. Bakersfield metro area surpassed the foreclosure figures of the areas like Riverside/San Bernardino, Las Vegas, and Stockton. It has been found that over 2.5 percent households in Bakersfield were sent some type of filing during the third quarter. This amounted to 6,786 filings in total. Stockton has been reported with a foreclosure filing of nearly 3.7 percent during the third quarter.

During the third quarter, nearly 765,558 properties were sent some type of foreclosure filing across the nation. The share of national filing for Bakersfield would be some 0.88 percent. Foreclosure not only affects the real estate industry but also gives a severe blow to the economy of any region. Nothing can be said in advance about the future of the real estate in Bakersfield, but something has to be done sooner to control the rate of foreclosure.

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Los Angeles County foreclosures has gone up by 25.7 percent during the third quarter in comparison to what it was a year back during the same time. However, the number of defaulters in the real estate scene has gone down for the first time over three years. A total of 17,073 homeowners have received a notice of default from the lenders on their properties during the third quarter. The total number of homes that received a foreclosure notice in 2007 during the third quarter in Los Angeles County was 13,583. The homeowners are at real stake due to foreclosure on their properties.

The homeowners that received a foreclosure notice on their homes in Orange County are 5,692 in number. This indicates a 46.6 percent increase from the figure of third quarter of 2007 that stood at 3,882. About 94,240 homeowners were sent a default notice on their homes statewide during the third quarter. This figure points towards a decline of nearly 22.5 percent from the figure that was there in the previous quarter. However, it is a 29.9 percent increase when compared to the scenario during the same quarter a year back. Last year, about 72,571 default notices were sent to the homeowners.

The decrease in the number of foreclosure filings in the third quarter is mainly due to the newly introduced state law that took effect in the month of September. If the law was not introduced, then the number foreclosure instances could have gone up heavily. It could have even crossed the record of the second quarter. According to real estate expert John Walsh, “What’s interesting is that the surge in activity certainly did level off during the second and third quarters. A lot of the market’s distress is working its way through the system and the spectacular jumps in activity may be behind us. Or it may be that those processing the default paperwork are just maxed out.”

Home foreclosure problem do not always stem from the default notices sent to the homeowners. About 20 percent of the homeowners egress from the process of foreclosure by going with refinancing, making their payments current, and by involving into a sales activity in the real estate area. Foreclosure not only affects the homeowners but also badly affects the economy of a particular region. It brings down the prices of home not only in that area but also in the surrounding places.

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Los Banos real estate has been suffering heavily from the problem of foreclosure for the last two years. People are leaving behind their homes in a miserable condition. A community preservation section although has been added by the City Council to the municipal code, it is expected that the issue will remain there so long the problem of foreclosure exists. According to a report, the total number of homes in foreclosure in Los Banos stands at 1,215. The number of homes in a pre-foreclosure status is 439. Besides, nearly 212 properties have been posted for auction. Chet Guintini, Fire Chief said, “We’ve had a fair share of complaints. We have limited resources.”

The City Council passed a statement in October last year saying that the lending agencies will be held responsible if a property in foreclosure was found to be in a poor condition. It is the homeowners who on their way out leave their property in a bad condition. If a civil action is filed by the city, then it can have a maximum of $2,500 from the owner of the property. The amendment that was passed by the City Council includes standards for the status of private property graffiti abatement, fences, walls, vacant buildings, and vegetation.

The homes in poor condition bring down the price of homes in the surrounding areas. Kelly Roseman, a code enforcer of Merced city has said that that the people there are so upset with the condition of vacant homes that they are mowing the lawns close to their homes themselves. Tom Kaljian, a real estate professional has said, “Essentially right now we’re doing property management,” They leave those houses in a bad state. We’re fortunate to be able to pay for that. When it falls on an agent, most of these agents the funds aren’t available.”

As Guintini has said that the cities have got some sort of help with the abandoned homes from the state government. He further said, “A Senate bill just passed that put more teeth in going after lending companies,” For every single day, the penalty will be $1,000. He has plans to provide some help to the City Council so that they can work out with the problem of homes in a situation of disrepair. Other than tall grasses, the cities have also to deal with the pools left abandoned by the homeowner as stagnant water can lead to spreading of West Nile Virus.

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San Jose City Council is asking the homeowners facing foreclosure to cleanup their homes as that can have a bad effect on the real estate of the neighborhood areas. Whenever a homeowner leaves behind his home, the area gets filled with overgrown lawns that can be hazardous. Besides, open windows and door can lead to hooliganism.

The people are being requested to get everything cleared while they move up. East of Highway 87 is one of the neighborhoods of San Jose that has been heavily hit by foreclosures over the past three months. Apart from that, the maximum rate of foreclosure filings was seen in ZIP code 95122. In this area, about 2.6 percent of the homes were facing some sort of foreclosure activity.

The three other ZIP codes, where the rates of foreclosure filings were 2 percent or higher were 95111, 95116, and 95127. Majority of the homes that are left vacant in San Jose are possessed by lending companies. The lenders are supposed to maintain that property. Those lenders who fail to manage these real estate properties can be subjected to a fine of up to $1,000. Director of the Department of Housing of San Jose Leslye Krutko said, “When you look at the number of families impacted, it’s a large number, and we need to be responsive as much as we can.”

Krutko has further said that the most important concern of the Department of Housing in the coming 6 weeks is to find out the best way in which the funds of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development can be used. About 305 vacant houses in San Jose between November 2007 and July 2008 were found in a state that was in violation of the ordinance on the neglected vacant house. However, this number has come down to 92 by the close of July.

Michael Hannon, who is the deputy director for code enforcement said that it is not at all a fair thing to make the citizens of San Jose pay for the management of vacant homes. Hannon is very happy about the fact that his division is able to work on the complaints lodged by the citizens. Krutko is expecting that there will be more of foreclosure prevention programs that will be city-sponsored, which would help the lenders to provide on-spot assistance to the distressed homeowners on loan modifications. Nearly 400 people attended one such program in the month of August.

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The bank foreclosures have led to an increasing rate of home sales activity. A large number of properties are left vacant due to the problem of foreclosed homes. This problem has created a good real estate market for the first time buyers as they can purchase a home at a price that was something unbelievable for them a few years back. However, the buyers are needed to ask for both home inspection and home warranty. As put by David Goodwin, treasurer of the Home Warranty Association of California (HWAC), a home warranty is provided by the seller often in a transaction that involves traditional home selling activity.

It has been found that about 90 percent of the traditional home sale transaction in California included giving of a home warranty by the seller. In this foreclosure market, the seller of homes and properties are the banks. It is by all probability that they will not be willing to provide a home warranty. Moreover, the bank is not well aware of the condition of the home as the occupant was someone different. Hence, the bank will be unable to make the buyer know about the condition of the home. Therefore, it becomes very important for the buyer to ask for inspection as well as home warranty.

In case of a foreclosed home, a buyer must not expect that the home warranty will also include on items that were found during the inspection time. A home inspection is always a necessity as that will give a clear idea on whether everything is in proper condition or not. The home warranty is an added protection that protects a homebuyer against unnecessary expenditures like repair costs within the first year of the possession of home. A buyer should be well aware of the various problems involved in buying a home when it is a market of foreclosure. If the problems are not identified at the first stage, it may cost the buyer heavily later on.

The Home Warranty Association of California happens to be an organization for home warranty companies, which represents about 95 percent of the various real estate contracts that are sold in California. A home warranty provides warranty for the main operating systems as well as appliances of the home against any breakdown within one year after the deal is closed. To make home buying a fruitful business, one must ask for home warranty to have a great future.

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A ray of hope seems to be there for the real estate market of US. Although the rate of foreclosure homes have gone up in the month of August, but there is an indication of stabilization in the US housing market. The Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bailout by the government is supposedly going to strengthen the value of homes. It has been observed that about 656,545 properties or 8.6 of every 1,000 homes in US have been repossessed by the lenders since January, 2008. In the month of August, nearly 102,000 homeowners have fallen into a foreclosure situation. This is almost an increase of 6.0% from the figure in July and 80.0% as compared to the previous year.

It is assumed that nearly 1 million properties will be taken over by the lenders by the end of 2008. About 1.45 million homeowners have confronted with a pre-foreclosure action on their home by the lenders since the beginning of 2008. This is quite alarming as it is almost twice the figure of 2007. Since July this year, the pre-foreclosure activity has somewhat slowed down. However, over half of the pre-foreclosure and lender repossession has taken place in Florida, Arizona, and California. These three states together with Nevada have been heavily hit by the real estate mortgage crisis of US.

Mortgage Bankers Association has reported that nearly 9.0% of the homeowners in US with mortgages were either in a foreclosure situation or behind in their payments at the close of the second quarter. It has been said that California and Florida has been the driving force behind this increasing numbers. The bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is expected to have a positive effect. It is hoped that there will be a drop in the borrowing costs. This will provide a support to the secondary market’s demand for mortgage-backed securities and will be a source of money for the lenders.

A decrease in the borrowing costs will make it feasible for the buyers to buy an already-foreclosed home. There has been a major fall in the employment level that has made several economists to assume that there will be further foreclosure problems. According to the Labor Department, a loss of about 84,000 jobs has taken place for nonfarm payrolls in the month of August. The rate of unemployment has rose from 5.7% to 6.1% in August.

The Northeast and Midwest have faced much lesser foreclosures and pre-foreclosures this year as compared to 2007. The Southeast region has the highest number of pre-foreclosure activity going on, with 477,177 or 27.5 filings per 1,000 homes. On the other hand the Southwest region has the highest number of foreclosure activities, with 348,019, or 12.7 filings per 1,000 homes.

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The problem of foreclosed homes although has hit terribly the real estate in the second half, but there is also an improvement that is being noticed in the number of borrowers who were falling badly in their mortgage payments. It has been seen that there has been a decrease in their numbers for the first time over the last two years or so. The default rates for the subprime loans have decreased according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. However, the number of prime loans defaulters is still on rise. The prime loans were those which were granted without looking into the credit history of the borrower.

At the end of the month of June, nearly 1.75 million mortgages or 2.75 percent of the home loans were in a state of foreclosure. This is an increase of 2.47 percent from March. This happens to be the highest foreclosure rate since the year of 1979. The real estate market is envisioned by the experts to face a further downward movement due to the increasing rate of unemployment resulting out of foreclosures. The rate of foreclosed homes was the highest in Michigan, California, Ohio, Florida, and Nevada. The total number of loans that were due by less than 3 months dropped from 4.72 percent to 4.58 percent.

The rate of unemployment has soared from 5.7 percent in July to 6.1 percent in August according to the report of the Labor Department. The job scenario seems to be at real stake. Several families were able to pay off their bills due to the $100 billion in federal tax rebates. Some others were able to deal with their loans due to the modifications made on it. Celia Chen, a real estate expert has said:

“The data over all still suggests that mortgage quality is weak, and I would expect that there will be further weakening and foreclosures that occur before the housing market improves”

About 5.35 percent of prime loans at June end were past due, which shows an increase of 4.93 percent from March. On the other hand, about 30.48 percent of subprime loans were past due, which indicates an increase of 29.53 percent. There is a huge concern with the defaulters of prime loans. The number of defaulters on this loan is expected to go further high by the real estate experts. This is because several borrowers with various creative loans like interest-only loans might fail to make interest payments as and when their favorable introductory terms come to an end.

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